redtiger 1,740 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 So whos going to the games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 So whos going to the games? My company Christmas party is at Barter at 2PM tomorrow. Been trying to get out of it all week without luck. They have already purchased the tickets. I even offered to reimburse for the tickets and donate to charity. This is the third year in a row the Christmas party is on state final Saturday. Next year, I will politely decline a month in advance! sportsfan, redtiger and 1inStripes 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1inStripes 932 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Only weekend I have off this month so the wife and I will be getting our Christmas shopping wrapped up for what she doesnt want to get online (in reality she wishes we didnt do anything online and I wish we done almost all of it online). I had even told some if offered a game this weekend I would probably have to decline unless it was with my normal crew. If not, me and my beagle would probably be snuggling up a lot this month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 First title game appearance comes full circle for Galax The 2011 state runners-up made an impact on members of Galax’s current squad, and that impact is being passed along.By Craig Worrell, Sports Editor Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 11:00 am more Kids are going to have their heroes. Some of those heroes wear skin-tight spandex and a cape and can leap tall buildings with a single bound. Some of them wear a shiny badge or drive a big red fire truck. Others wear combat boots, or a professional sports franchise’s uniform on ESPN, or bring home a paycheck every week. Craig Worrell “I walked out the gate and there were little kids standing there, cheering and yelling...It’s a big thing.†––Daniel Edwards Buy this photo 1 of 2 Some of them wear their school colors on Friday nights. High school football players may not get the feeling that they are heroes in the eyes of kids much younger than they, even minor heroes somewhat lower in the pecking order than a cop or a pro runningback or a guy with superpowers or a daddy. But heroes they are, and members of the Galax football team get it. They were the wide-eyed kids, seventh- and eighth-graders, looking up at the varsity guys the last time the Maroon Tide reached the state championship game. “Deion George,†said Daniel Edwards, now a 6-foot-2, 250-pound junior lineman for the Tide, thinking back to his heroes from Galax’s only previous trip to the state finals, in 2011. “I heard his name 24/7 in school. Austin Pack. Those two I really looked up to. They were my idols. Coach [Mark] Dixon, we heard he was in the NFL. That’s big to us. We haven’t seen anything like that in this small town. It was nice.†Jordon Peoples had heroes on that team. They were his brothers. “Having all three of my older brothers playing for the state championship was exciting,†said Peoples, a senior defensive back and return man. “I couldn’t wait to watch them play. They were my heroes, I looked up to them. They motivated me to be just like them.†Charles Harris, who surpassed 3,000 rushing yards for the season last week, still was an NFL runningback in his mind when he was playing in the back yard, but he knew he could stay local if he needed a positive influence. “I looked up to Steven Peoples,†Harris said of the first of three straight Tide tailbacks (Harris being the most recent) to top 3,000 yards in a season. “He had a big impact on me and was a great role model, especially as a runningback. He always gave 100 percent and I looked up to that.†They all remember that Saturday in December of 2011 when the 14-0 Maroon Tide fell 33-28 to Clintwood in what was then the Group A Division 1 state championship game. “I remember watching the game and wishing one day I could play in a state championship game,†Peoples said. “I wanted to play in front of a huge crowd like that. All of those people coming to watch you and your team play is unreal.†Edwards had buddies involved in other sports, but his main circle of friends were mostly football players. “It really had a big impact on us younger kids,†he said. “That’s all we wanted to do, was play football. Watching the game, seeing that they lost, it didn’t affect us as much as the team, but we saw it as maybe one day we’ll get a chance to do it. And now we’re getting a chance to play in a state championship.†Dixon didn’t know if that season drew any more kids into the program than what would have happened otherwise. But he does believe the 2011 season planted a seed. “It drew in the possibility that you can get there,†he said. “I don’t know that, before that group, if anybody thought there was a possibility to get there.†Harris affirmed that notion. “It was just amazing,†he said. “I looked up to Austin Pack and all the guys, making it to state and doing the things that I wished I would be able to do when I was little.†Older members of this team now walk the halls as juniors and seniors, and they can see their own reflections as the middle-schoolers pass by on their way to the lunch room. “Every day in the hallway, it’s like ‘Good luck. I want to do that,’ you know?†Edwards said. “They come ask us how we do it, how are we all so big? We just tell them that we work hard. We tell them we do the little things, we come early every morning at 5:30, work hard, pay attention in class to the teachers, simple things like that. Being disciplined, having character and respect for others. That’s a big key.†Interacting with younger players may or may not do anything for a fifth-grader’s skills. But the beauty of it all is in the interaction itself. “During the summer, coach had a skill camp down at the rec center,†Peoples recalled. “He wanted some of us to come down and help coach the kids and teach them some about the sport. The kids looked up to us. You could tell they appreciated the time we spent with them.†Edwards remembers getting help in the weight room from upperclassmen like Deion George and Chaz Sizemore when he was a seventh-grader. It has since come full-circle. “There was a guy who came in here this morning, Joshua Brown,†said Edwards. “He came up to me and asked if I could help him lift. I said, ‘Yeah buddy, get behind me and we’ll do this together.’ Dougie Peoples helps a lot of the younger kids. It’s a big thing because they look up to us.†Edwards continued, “It feels great to know that little kids want to do the same thing that we’re doing. They want to listen to the teachers, they want to be respectful, they don’t want to fight or bad-mouth, they want to be responsible young adults.†The big burly kid with the raspy voice never thought he’d get the chance to experience what he watched his heroes do in 2011. “Nope. I didn’t believe we’d ever touch state,†Edwards said. “But after we beat Essex, I took off my helmet and I teared up a little bit. I walked out the gate and there were little kids standing there, cheering and yelling. They had flags in their hands and all that. It’s a big thing. It’s a big thing.†And just like that, another seed is planted. redtiger and sportsfan 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixcat 2,919 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Great article in today's Galax Gazette! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWVAgridiron 1,469 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 I'll be in Salem all day tomorrow cheering on The Maroon Tide and Appomattox! sportsfan and redtiger 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swva_havok_fan 1,261 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 So whos going to the games? Your fellow Haysi boy (me) is making the trip. I'll be channeling my inner James Colley and will be wearing shorts. :D My buddy from Coeburn is meeting me in Abingdon and riding up with me. sportsfan and redtiger 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan4VT 4,555 Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 Your fellow Haysi boy (me) is making the trip. I'll be channeling my inner James Colley and will be wearing shorts. :D My buddy from Coeburn is meeting me in Abingdon and riding up with me. I haven't put jeans on since March. Ask redtiger about my will to wear shorts in 35 degree weather lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtiger 1,740 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2015 ^ hes either ignorant or tough as nails Ryan4VT 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Account 5,203 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 ^ hes either ignorant or tough as nails I resemble that remark! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Johnson 95 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 How many of the teams this year in the state finals are total spread teams? I know Riverheads, Galax, Clarke County, Lord B., Magna Vista are those that don't. There are things about redzone offense and clock management that I hate about the spread. I will have to say that the Michigan State - Iowa game was an old fashion beating from both teams. Oscar Smith, Westfield, Highland Springs, Stone Bridge, Lake Taylor and Salem do not run spread either though both Smith and Springs will go four-wide and empty at times. They are much more pro-I than spread. Not sure what Appomattox runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trumpet1988 289 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 I haven't put jeans on since March. Ask redtiger about my will to wear shorts in 35 degree weather lol.Dag on, buddy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan4VT 4,555 Report Share Posted December 12, 2015 Dag on, buddy! I just don't get cold easily lol. As long as my ears are warm, I'm usually fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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